Issue 83 / November 2017

SAY
THE FINAL
Homotopia takes on the theme
of Liberation 50 this year
with a programme reflecting
on the anniversary of the
partial decriminalisation of
homosexuality. Here, the team
behind the festival highlight
that LGBT history isn’t just
something we should think
about at convenient milestones.
“A free society is
one that allows every
individual, without
fear or censor, to be
able to share their own
experience”
Visibility is important, with or without an anniversary.
Anniversaries give us a chance to reflect.
The theme of this year’s Homotopia festival is
Liberation 50, citing the 50th anniversary of the
partial decriminalisation of homosexuality as a moment of both
celebration and reflection. But it shouldn’t always require an
anniversary for us to have a conversation around shining a light
on the darker elements of our history, and to give everyone a
chance to tell their story.
Creative resistance and rebellion are an important part of
fostering social change. Through art, we are able to creatively
engage the mind and to discuss stories that may be difficult to
discuss through other platforms, whether in the news, in music
or popular culture. The artists Homotopia work with, locally,
nationally and internationally, have, in some way, used their art to
tell their own history in a way that society may not empower or
enable them to. Art provides freedom of expression, equality and
power.
2017 has seen stories shared of discrimination, of fear, of
celebration, of battles fought and won, of lives lost and love
found. For Homotopia, it’s a privilege to continue this in Liverpool
with a month-long series of events. With this year’s festival, we
want to provide a moment to stop and reflect on the year, giving
both audiences and artists the opportunity to explore, reclaim
and present our shared histories. But we have to learn a valuable
lesson from this year as well. When we allow people’s stories
to be forgotten, or dismissed, our lives are all diminished. When
we allow a section of society to be ostracised or undermined, the
impact affects every individual, no matter the colour of their skin,
their age, gender identity or sexuality. A free society is one that
allows every individual, without fear or censor, to be able to share
their own experience. When we do that we find solidarity, we
find hope.
Many of the stories presented at Homotopia in November are
deeply personal stories. There will be over 50 events, covering
visual art, performance, theatre, film and more. Diamond,
performed by David Hoyle and directed by Mark Whitelaw
is an unforgiving queer performance of sexuality and British
culture, exploring LGBT history from 1957 to 2017, through
the personal biography of avant-garde performer David Hoyle.
Weaving together intimate personal accounts and landmark
events, Diamond, which will be performed at the Unity Theatre
on 11th November, charts David’s rise from a gay adolescent
in Blackpool, through famous Channel 4 anti-drag queen cult
phenomena Divine David, to the performer he is today.
Covering art, theatre, club nights, dining and more, there is
something for all tastes at Homotopia. Creative Rage, which runs
from 27th October to 12th November at The Gallery on Stanhope
Street, is a group show of radical artists including David Hoyle,
Jeffrey Hinton, Sadie Lee, Trojan, Derek Jarman and John Lee
Bird. The show explores anger, bravery and trailblazing nonconformity,
and is set to be one of the highlights of Homotopia’s
art programme.
Elsewhere, Tales From The City, at the Museum Of Liverpool,
explores LGBT+ stories from Liverpool while over at The Royal
Standard, Notes On Queerness presents an exhibition denoting
aspects of what it means to be queer.
Throughout the past 14 years, Homotopia has provided
a platform to champion artists in places where their voices
cannot be heard and in places where it might be dangerous
to air those voices. For example, our Pansy Project, where
flowers are planted on the sites of homophobic abuse, provides
a visual documentation of how important visibility is for LGBT
communities around the world. We can look to the violence and
intimidation abroad but we know there is still much work that
needs to be done at home.
While 2017 has been a welcome opportunity to see
a discussion of LGBT+ culture, history, artists, voices and
performers, Liberation 50 reminds us that while people may have
been free, they haven’t always been heard. Across half a century,
art and culture has often marginalised queer voices, expecting
them to fulfil certain roles, or to tell a certain perspective.
We are on the eve of an important year, for both Liverpool
and for Homotopia. The festival was formed in 2003, as part
of the preparations for the city’s year as European Capital of
Culture in 2008 and next year’s Homotopia marks our fifteenth
year. We’ll be in a celebratory mood and we want that to start
with this year’s festival. We want to reflect on the artists we’ve
worked with, the work we’ve done across the world and the
stories we’ve shared. In Liberation 50 we hope to provide, if not
a full stop to 2017’s re-examination since the Sexual Offences
Act, then certainly a comma exploring self-expression, cultural
identity and the right to write one’s own history.
But let this self-examination and platform continue once the
50th anniversary of partial decriminalisation has passed. Let it
be part of a determination by those who have platforms – be it
the media, curators, artists, funders, programmers and more – to
remember that we have a responsibility to give everyone a voice
every day of the year, not merely because a date in the calendar
tells us to do so. Let us give every community a megaphone,
every individual a leg up, and remember everyone has a right to
be heard. !
Homotopia takes place between 26th October and 1st December
at various venues across the city. Visit homotopia.net for more
details.
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